INDIANAPOLIS — Jimmie Owens is breathing a sigh of relief.
"Finally, after a year and some months, someone has finally listened," said Owens.
13News was there as Owens and other tenants were moving out of the troubled Irvington Arms Apartments on East Washington Street.
"Never have I been through anything like this. It's just been horrible," said Owens.
Tenants said management ignored their pleas for help. Instead, the company issued a seven-day eviction notice.
"I come home from church, door wide open, people kicked the door in, took all my food and some other items, including some of my clothes," said Owens.
On Monday, the Marion County Public Health Department did a reinspection of the property. They found four units still occupied and a host of violations that had not been repaired.
A spokesperson with the MCPHD said they are "moving forward with referring the Notice of Violation to our legal team for court."
The city's Department of Business and Neighborhood Services also has an open case against this property. A pre-trial hearing against Braavosi Holdings, LLC — the owner of Irvington Arms Apartments — is set for 1 p.m. on Oct. 19.
Owens' story is similar to what other Hoosiers are experiencing — a lack of affordable housing.
According to Prosperity Indiana, the state has 38 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 households with "extremely low incomes." Prosperity Indiana says the state is tied for the fourth-lowest rate in the Midwest and 20th-lowest among all states.
Indianapolis city officials are trying to change that.
"We know that since the pandemic we have rents going up 20-30% in Marion County, which is substantial and wages just aren't matching that," said Scarlett Andrews, the director of the Department of Metropolitan Development.
Andrews said there are about 20,000 units in Marion County that are subsidized as affordable housing.
About 50,000 are available to households earning an income of at or below $35,000.
"Really just thinking about across the spectrum, how do we increase supply of housing because we know that that's going to ultimately drive the ability of more people to access housing at any level that they need to," said Andrews.
In April, the city announced it was investing more than $6 million in funding to create and preserve affordable housing.
It's part of Mayor Joe Hogsett's nearly $56 million anti-displacement strategy.
Andrews said the city also funds the HomeNow Indy program, which works to connect existing units.
"If you're a landlord and you have a unit right now, you can accept a renter with a permanent supportive housing voucher,' said Andrews.
IndyRent is a program that supported over $160 million in rental assistance through the pandemic.
"We are strapped on funding and trying to focus specifically on those who are facing eviction through the end of the year," said Andrews.
Andrew Bradley, policy director with Prosperity Indiana, said tenants should have options if the landlord fails to fix major problems.
"One factor adding additional pressure on the availability of affordable housing is that Indiana is one of only five states that doesn't allow renters who are experiencing serious health and safety violations to put their rent into escrow until the violations are fixed, or to repair the problem themselves and deduct the cost from rent," Bradley said. "This effectively incentivizes bad actor landlords to allow properties to fall into dangerous disrepair because they can legally continue to extract rent."
It's an issue Prosperity Indiana wants the Indiana General Assembly to take up next year.
As Owens awaits a more permanent housing solution, he said he's just thankful to get the help he longed for.
"Sometimes you just have to be patient that somehow things will work themselves out. I'm just looking for a new beginning," said Owens.